Taylor family operating Lockhart's mill
Photograph courtesy of Margaret Grant, Huntly whose grandfather was Peter Taylor who worked in sawmills owned by Lockhart’s of Huntly. The year is uncertain but Peter’s age has been estimated as about 30 and year around 1906.
Peter Taylor born circa 1876 had six of a family (oldest born c1906) who in their early years trailed around the country as Peter worked in mills which were moved and set up many times in locations as diverse as the BlackIsle, Laggan, Dufftown and Kintore. In those day the sawmill and attendant camp were dismantled, loaded onto wagons and moved to a new forest location whenever the job or forest in one area was finished. Margaret recalls her mother Helen going to schools at Birnam, Gartly, Dufftown and possibly Mulben in her young days and living in wooden huts and bothies at each site.
In this photograph at an unknown location but photographed by Charles Treasurer of 21 Inglis St. Inverness shows six men smartly turned out for the photograph. Margaret has identified her grandfather Peter (2nd left) but also mentioned that his brother Bob also worked in the mills and could be in the photograph. Bob Taylor eventually settled down at Munlochy and worked in the Forestry Commission sawmill which was located near there.
The photograph does not show the size of the mill or whether it is a double bench set up. The 3 barrows are obviously the main means of transporting the smaller cut products and sawdust around the site.
Any help to identify the other men in the photograph and other Taylor family members would be very welcome.
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2. Peter Taylor
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Groups: Forestry in Action, Groups of people, Sawmills, pulp mills, chipboard mills, Tools, equipment and clothing